The Tashkent class consisted of a single destroyer leader, built in Italy for the Soviet Navy just before World War II. Three others were ordered from shipyards in the Soviet Union, but they were cancelled before they were laid down as they were too difficult to build with the existing technology in Soviet shipyards. Completed in 1940, participated in the Sieges of Odessa and Sevastopol in 1941–1942, during which she ferried reinforcements and supplies into those cities, evacuated wounded and refugees, and provided naval gunfire support for Soviet troops. The ship was badly damaged twice by Axis bombers before she was sunk in harbor in mid-1942. Her wreck refloated in 1944, but it was too badly damaged to be worth repairing and was scrappedafter the war.
Design and description
Unsatisfied with the destroyer leader, the Soviets decided that they needed foreign design assistance around 1934–1935. The French were not willing to share ship plans so the Soviets turned to Italy, based on their earlier experience with the Italians during the preliminary design work for the s. They requested designs for a high-speed destroyer leader from three Italian shipbuilders and accepted the submission by Odero-Terni-Orlandoin September 1935. They would build the lead ship, named Tashkent, in their Livornoshipyard, and provide assistance for the Soviets to build others in their own shipyards. Three other ships were ordered, although the only ship to receive a name was Baku, before they were all cancelled due to difficulties with adapting the Italian design to Soviet shipbuilding practices. The Tashkent-class ships had an overall length of, a beam of, and a mean draft of. The ships displaced at standard load, at full load, and at deep load. Their crew numbered 250 officers and sailors. The ships had a pair of geared steam turbines, each driving one three-bladed propeller using steam from a pair of Yarrow boilers that operated at a pressure of and a temperature of. The turbines, designed to produce, were intended to give the Tashkents a maximum speed of and Tashkent herself reached from during her sea trials in 1938, although her armament had yet to be fitted. She reached once her armament had been installed. The ships had a maximum capacity of of fuel oil which gave them a range of at a speed of. They were equipped with a pair of turbogenerators and three diesel generators, two of and one of.
Armament and fire-control
Tashkents main armament was intended to consist of six 50-caliber B-13 guns in three twin-gun B-31 turrets, one superfiring pair forward of the superstructure and the other mount aft of it. However, the turrets were not ready in time so three single mounts were substituted. The manually operated mounts had an elevation range between -5° to +45° and had a rate of fire of 6–10 rounds per minute. B-2-LM twin-gun turrets replaced the single mounts in mid-1941. The B-13 gun fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of, which gave them a range of. Anti-aircraft defense aboard Tashkent was initially provided by six 46-caliber semi-automatic 21-K AA guns in single mounts as well as six DShK machine guns. The 21-K was a converted anti-tank gun with a rate of fire of 25–30 rounds per minute with an elevation range between -10° and +85°. The gun fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of. This gave them a range of. The DShK had an effective rate of fire of 125 rounds per minute and an effective range against aircraft of. The 21-K guns were replaced by an equal number of fully automatic 74-caliber 70-K AA guns in mid-1941. The 70-K gun had a range of from their fragmentation shells that were fired at a muzzle velocity of. They had a maximum elevation of +90° and a rate of fire of 160–180 rounds per minute. While being repaired in September 1941, a twin-gun 39-K mount for 55-caliber 34-K AA guns was added. The 34-K guns could elevate between -5° and +85° and had a rate of fire of 15–20 rounds per minute. Their muzzle velocity of gave their high-explosive shells a maximum horizontal range of and an effective ceiling of. They carried nine torpedo tubes in three rotating triple mounts. The ships could also carry 76 mines and 24 depth charges which were delivered by two throwers and one stern rack. Tashkent was equipped with a gunnery directoron top of the bridge, fitted with a duplex rangefinder installation, that provided data for an Italian-made "Galileo" mechanicalanalogfire-control computer, and a rangefinder. Two rangefinders were provided for the AA guns. It is uncertain what fire-control systems would have been used by the Soviet-built ships had they not been canceled.
Ships
Service
During the Siege of Odessa, Tashkent escorted a transport to Odessa and provided naval gunfire support before she was badly damaged by Axis bombers in August. After repairs were completed in November, the ship ferried reinforcements and supplies, evacuated wounded and refugees, and bombarded Axis positions during the Siege of Sevastopol in 1941–1942. Tashkent was crippled by Axis bombers on a return voyage to Novorossiysk in late June and was sunk a few days later during an air strike on the harbor there. Her wreck was refloated in 1944, but it was a total constructive total loss and was scrapped after the war.
